SNOOKER – Bahrain’s superstar cueist and former Masters world champion Habib Sabah will be taking part in the $3million Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters 2025.
The prestigious event is set to take place from this Friday to August 16 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and it will feature 144 of the world’s best players, including 16 wildcards from hosts Saudi and further afield.
Sabah is one of the wildcards, having received an invitation to participate from the World Snooker Tour, who are organising the event in collaboration with the Saudi Arabian Billiard and Snooker Federation and under the supervision of Saudi’s Ministry of Sport.
“I am proud to represent Bahrain in this international competition,” Sabah said. “I am aiming to win my first match in this knockout competition amongst the best players in the world.”
The other wildcards in the event are Mohammed Al Joaker from the UAE, Hesham Shaky from Egypt, Adeel Aqdas and Asif Mukhtar from Pakistan, and Saudi players Omar Alajlani, Abdulraouf Saigh, Ziad Al Qabani, Ahmed Asiri, Ayman Al Amri, Abdullah Al Tyani, Musab Sayegh, Fahad Alghamdi, Musaad Almisfir, and Saud Albaker. Another wildcard player has yet to be announced.
Sabah is set to open his campaign in the first round on Friday against Canada’s Sahil Nayyar, who is ranked 113th on the World Snooker Tour. The victor will move on to play Northern Ireland’s Jordan Brown, ranked 55th in the world, the following day.
Matches in both these opening stages, along with the ensuing third round, are to be played best of seven frames. Rounds four and five will then be played best of nine frames. After that, the round-of-16 through to the semi-finals will be held best of 11 frames. The final will be played best of 19 frames.
A star-studded field is taking part in the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters 2025. Amongst the biggest names are defending champion Judd Trump from England, world champion Zhao Xintong and Ding Junhui from China, Scotsman John Higgins, Welshman Mark Williams, Australian Neil Robertson, and Englishmen Ronnie O’Sullivan, Kyren Wilson, Shaun Murphy, to name a few.
Speaking on Sabah’s participation, Bahrain Billiards Sports and Snooker Federation president Monther Al Basri expressed his pride in the World Snooker Tour’s invitation to Sabah, who is a multi-titled player at all levels of the game. “Sabah is a star in Bahraini sports, and he is the best person to represent Bahrain in this major international event.”
Sabah is fresh from competing in the IBSF World Snooker Championships 2025, which was hosted in the kingdom last month by the International Billiards and Snooker Federation. He played in both the Masters and the men’s six-red events.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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